Validity of license

[Ian69]

Hi,
If I was successful and got a job as a driver (with anyone) I presume once completed all exams and done all the hours required you have a train driver license? Which I presume is recognised by all Uk TOC’s if not European standards too?
1 how easy is it to leave and go to another TOC?
2 if you left for a year or two how long is it valid for? (Could you easily walk back into a job if say you had 5 years off)
3 if going to another TOC how long would the training be?
4 do drivers move around or do they tend to stay put?
Thanks in advance

 

[Class2ldn]

You can go to another toc just by applying if there's any vacancies, you'll need to have another interview and maybe even some psychometric tests again but that depends on the toc, if you fail you won't lose your licence, it's just a way of filtering people out.
Its called a European driving licence but its not actually valid to drive out of the UK, all their rules and regs would be different anyway.
I believe after 2 years away you'd have to restart as a trainee, not 100% sure on that but you certainly wouldn't be able to have 5 years away from the job and come back as a qualified driver.
The training at a new toc would vary depending on the routes you'd need to sign and traction you'd have to learn etc.

 

[12LDA28C]

Hi,
If I was successful and got a job as a driver (with anyone) I presume once completed all exams and done all the hours required you have a train driver license? Which I presume is recognised by all Uk TOC’s if not European standards too?
1 how easy is it to leave and go to another TOC?
2 if you left for a year or two how long is it valid for? (Could you easily walk back into a job if say you had 5 years off)
3 if going to another TOC how long would the training be?
4 do drivers move around or do they tend to stay put?
Thanks in advance

Once qualified you would be issued with an ETDL (European Train Driving Licence) which is valid for ten years and you can take to other TOCs/FOCs. However the complementary certificate also issued is only valid at that TOC.

If you have a clean record it should be relatively easy to move companies but be aware that not all TOCs always recruit qualified drivers with some preferring to take on 'apprentices' as they can claim money from the Government for running an apprenticeship scheme.

If moving to another TOC you would still need to sign the relevant routes and traction and would no doubt have to prove your competency by undertaking an initial Rules exam in order to be issued a Certificate of Competence for that TOC.

If you left the railway for more than a year and returned to the same TOC, you would need full retraining on the traction and routes again as your competence would have expired.

 

[clarets2005]

Hi,
If I was successful and got a job as a driver (with anyone) I presume once completed all exams and done all the hours required you have a train driver license? Which I presume is recognised by all Uk TOC’s if not European standards too?
1 how easy is it to leave and go to another TOC?
2 if you left for a year or two how long is it valid for? (Could you easily walk back into a job if say you had 5 years off)
3 if going to another TOC how long would the training be?
4 do drivers move around or do they tend to stay put?
Thanks in advance

Other thing to bear in mind, besides what 12LDA28C has already mentioned, is that a few TOCs require a few years' service in order to recoup the cost of training.
The TOC I'm starting with require it and I completely understand why, given the costs associated.

 

[Busyboy89]

Hey guys hope you don’t mind me butting in and going off on a slight tangent, I didnt Really think much about it apart from our instructor explained we were the first to have a none ETDL. I started my course October 2020 and After reading these posts I asked to check an older hand licence to mine in the mess room today. Mine doesn’t say anything about EU just UK plus I’m also missing the stars around the UK on the top left.

I will finally get to my question lol is there any difference to what these licences mean/can be used for? Hope this makes sense

 

[PupCuff]

Hey guys hope you don’t mind me butting in and going off on a slight tangent, I didnt Really think much about it apart from our instructor explained we were the first to have a none ETDL. I started my course October 2020 and After reading these posts I asked to check an older hand licence to mine in the mess room today. Mine doesn’t say anything about EU just UK plus I’m also missing the stars around the UK on the top left.

I will finally get to my question lol is there any difference to what these licences mean/can be used for? Hope this makes sense

No, people still call them "ETDLs" but that's now basically just a colloquialism, as since Brexit they are all just Train Driving Licences. It's a bit like passports, some existing British Passports still say "European Union" on the front and are still valid, but they don't retain their old pre-Brexit validity over and above one issued today, which would not be EU marked.

 

[T-Karmel]

No, people still call them "ETDLs" but that's now basically just a colloquialism, as since Brexit they are all just Train Driving Licences. It's a bit like passports, some existing British Passports still say "European Union" on the front and are still valid, but they don't retain their old pre-Brexit validity over and above one issued today, which would not be EU marked.

Exactly that, and I just want to add up an example of a car driving licence where similar desing changes were made to as well as their validity and transferability towards and from EU licences has been adjusted.

 

[PudseyBearHST]

ETDL means you have passed the psychometric testing and is valid in any European country, has this changed then?

 

[PupCuff]

ETDL means you have passed the psychometric testing and is valid in any European country, has this changed then?

Yes, post-Brexit.

It would be interesting to be fair to know how Eurostar work; whether they need both a UK domestic licence and a european licence, or whether there is some dispensation agreed between the UK and France/Belgium on the matter.

 

[12LDA28C]

ETDL means you have passed the psychometric testing and is valid in any European country, has this changed then?

If you have an ETDL you are a fully-qualified driver. You don't get one just for passing the psychometric testing.

 

[PudseyBearHST]

Yes, post-Brexit.

Thanks, didn’t realise that.

 

[Mattydo]

If you have an ETDL you are a fully-qualified driver. You don't get one just for passing the psychometric testing.

The ORR sent mine (and my coursemate's) out in the first week of rules. The complimentary certificate is the part that indicates any actual qualification. The plastic card itself is indeed only issued on the basis of psychometric passes being in the system. Bizarre but true. I suppose you could look at it as a provisional licence until the CC is issued?

 

[12LDA28C]

The ORR sent mine (and my coursemate's) out in the first week of rules. The complimentary certificate is the part that indicates any actual qualification. The plastic card itself is indeed only issued on the basis of psychometric passes being in the system. Bizarre but true. I suppose you could look at it as a provisional licence until the CC is issued?

Yeah that's probably the correct way of looking at it. The licence is not valid as evidence of being qualified without the complementary certificate.